EPL18R Lawro's predictions

Lawro's predictions

By Mark Lawrenson  BBC Sport football expert HOW DID LAWRO DO LAST TIME? Lawro's predictions Middlesbrough 1-1 Arsenal Aston Villa 2-0 Bolton Liverpool 2-0 Hull Man City 2-1 Everton Stoke 2-1 Fulham Sunderland 2-0 West Brom Wigan 1-1 Blackburn Tottenham 0-2 Man Utd Portsmouth 2-0 Newcastle Chelsea 2-0 West Ham Actual results Middlesbrough 1-1 Arsenal Aston Villa 4-2 Bolton Liverpool 2-2 Hull Man City 0-1 Everton Stoke 0-0 Fulham Sunderland 4-0 West Brom Wigan 3-0 Blackburn Tottenham 0-0 Man Utd Portsmouth 0-3 Newcastle Chelsea 1-1 West Ham Lawro got THREE results right, with ONE perfect score. THIS WEEK'S PREDICTIONS (All kick-offs are 1500 GMT unless specified) SATURDAY Blackburn v Stoke I expect Sam Allardyce to have an immediate impact on his return to management. Blackburn have not been playing all that badly and had they won a couple of games over the previous month or so then Paul Ince would probably still have a job. Allardyce lives up the road in Bolton and will know all about Rovers from his time in charge at the Reebok. The timing of his appointment means that he has a a short period of time to assess his squad before the transfer window opens. Stoke have had the odd decent result on the road but have generally struggled to pick up points. Verdict: 2-0 Match preview Bolton v Portsmouth Bolton have started to lose games quite heavily and boss Gary Megson will be of the opinion that it is very important to take something from this game. I'm still not quite sure about Portsmouth. It will take some time for Tony Adams to put his stamp on the job and he will need to replace Lassana Diarra at some stage. A draw in this game would be something of an improvement for Bolton after their 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa, while a point would not be too upsetting for Pompey away from home. Verdict: 1-1 Match preview Fulham v Middlesbrough Fulham have become harder to beat as the weeks have gone on. They have failed to sort out their away form but they are very good at home, are difficult to play against and have some very decent players. Middlesbrough play well for a few games and look a decent side. Then they lose their form and you wonder what has happened to them. It probably tells you more about the character of their players than anything else. Verdict: 2-1 Match preview Hull v Sunderland Hull continue to confound everyone and fully deserved their draw at Liverpool last weekend. Phil Brown's team keep going from strength to strength and are not frightened of anyone. Sunderland had a fantastic result last weekend but the Tigers now have incredible self-belief. Verdict: 2-0 Match preview West Ham v Aston Villa (1730 GMT) I was starting to fear the worst for West Ham, with the dreaded R word moving into the equation, but they had a top result at Chelsea. The Hammers are still struggling to win games but will have taken confidence from that 1-1 draw. Aston Villa look more dangerous away from home than at Villa Park. With James Milner and Ashley Young out wide, and Gabriel Agbonlahor playing through the middle, they break with pace and power and possess a great threat. Verdict: 2-2 Match preview SUNDAY West Brom v Man City (1330 GMT) West Brom were awful defensively last week and I imagine they will have been working on that this week. Man City, too, cannot seem to get going. City are playing like a team who are waiting for the January sales. They might not be looking for bargains but they will definitely be shopping, and they seem to be in limbo at the moment. However, I think that long term the situation is looking good for City. The owner understands that although City are in the lower reaches of the table at the moment what matters is where they are in May. The club will look to sign several players in the transfer window, bed them in during the remainder of the season and assess the situation at the end of the campaign. And although they are currently 17th in the table, a couple of wins will quickly move them up a few places. Verdict: 1-1 Match preview Newcastle v Tottenham Joe Kinnear has done a good job so far at Newcastle. The Magpies are picking up points and confidence is on the up. And surprise, surprise, a fit Michael Owen is scoring goals for them. Spurs have a game on Thursday and I think that the Magpies will be lying in wait for them on Sunday. Verdict: 2-0 Match preview Arsenal v Liverpool (1600 GMT) Liverpool will adopt a similar approach to when they defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in late October. Rafa Benitez's team are without Fernando Torres and will focus on ensuring they are difficult to beat. They will play with effectively one striker and look for Mr Liverpool, Steven Gerrard, to come up with something special. Arsenal have performed well against the better teams this season but they are still fragile and can be frustrated. These sorts of games are rarely classics. Verdict: 1-1 Match preview MONDAY Everton v Chelsea (2000 GMT) Everton have picked up a large percentage of their points away from home this season. They played well against Aston Villa but failed to close out the game and lost when they should really have taken a point after scoring a late equaliser. Had they held on for the draw it would have raised everyone's spirits. Have they got enough to give Chelsea problems? I'm not sure. Rather like Everton, Chelsea have been more convincing away from home, in fact they have been in unbelievable form on their travels. A major problem for Luiz Felipe Scolari at the moment, though, is that without Joe Cole and Didier Drogba he has no plan B. A fit Drogba causes all sorts of problems, while Joe Cole can create openings or score himself. At the moment Chelsea have a problem if the opposition are able to close down Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa. Verdict: 0-2